Accreditation Readiness Blog

A key element of successful CARF accreditation is generating input from your organization's stakeholders (program participants, employees, family members, referral sources, etc.) and using the input to increase quality of services and your financial bottom line.

Stakeholder surveys
are a foundational component of the input process. Below are some tips
for obtaining and using the input of your organization's stakeholders.

1.A Well-Designed Survey:
A well-designed survey produces person and organizational-centered information
directly related to the needs and preferences of all stakeholders. Areas of
inquiry closely follow the standards of accreditation. It is important to
organize subject areas into categories that address specific standards that
require stakeholder input. For example, stakeholder needs related to the CARF
standard addressing transportation accessibility might be obtained through a
series of survey questions about transportation availability, cost, and related
geographic factors. Other important components of stakeholder survey design are
ease of use, reading and comprehension levels, use of current and available
feedback survey technology, and obtaining results in understandable and usable
formats.

2.“Selling”
the Survey Process: Leadership’s communication that input is valued and the
results will be utilized to benefit all stakeholders is a critical component in
the stakeholder survey process. “We are
just doing this because it’s a requirement for CARF” will have about the
same outcome as telling your spouse you are staying in the relationship
because you are too old and fat to play the singles’ game. A good
approach to get buy-in from your stakeholders is to let folks know the process
will be transparent, the results will be shared, and that you will seek ideas
from stakeholders with how to use the results to improve services, workplace
environment, referral mechanisms, etc.

3.A
Fluid Survey Process: Stakeholder surveys are not a one-time event. You
start with surveys to develop your improvement plans, assemble your policies
and procedures, and establish practices that will lead to a successful initial
accreditation outcome. You are also developing an ongoing system of information
gathering that will become a regular part of managing your business after the
initial accreditation is achieved.

4.
Crunching the Numbers: So you have a lot of data from your surveys.
Now what? There is no need to hire a statistician or get a local university PhD
candidate working on a dissertation to figure it all out. Be
practical. Are there any “outliers” within specific areas assessed? For
example, four of the five questions specific to transportation accessibility
result in an average score of 4.6 or better on a 6.0 rating scale. One
question, related to cost, averages 4.0, which is still above “satisfied” on
the rating scale. It is an “outlier”, explore it further through a focused
survey or a focus group.

5.Using the
Results: “Don’t identify a problem unless you are willing to offer a
solution.” You are asking a variety of stakeholders to identify areas of
improvement that will lead to successful accreditation. So keep going back to
the well for more water. In other words, the persons who know what needs to be
improved to support your business/organization usually have all kinds of ideas
for how to improve it. Share the results. Get input and opinions from staff
about what the numbers mean. Most likely, the results will mirror what folks
have been communicating informally. Take advantage of the resources you have in
“human resources.” How many times has someone said, “Gee, I knew the answer, but nobody asked.” The concept of a
person-centered approach is not limited to individualizing a treatment plan. It
also includes input and involvement of stakeholders in the majority of the
processes related to the CARF standards.